Progressives desperately need help with messaging. Here are two of several opportunities we’ve identified at the National Progressive Campaign Resource Center, now launching:

For starters, we should respond to large, recent changes in voter math. There are more independents than either Democrats or Republicans in the U.S. today. Merely calling opposing candidates ‘bad’ (no matter how bad we think they are) only alienates the very voters we need to influence.

We’d also do well to recognize the limitations of fact-based messages. Progressives, rightfully, love data, projections and policy implications. But, as we’ve known for decades, human choice is more influenced by emotion. To succeed, we’ll need to get better at learning how to message authentically and truthfully in languages that resonate with audiences unlike ourselves.